3 DAYS AGO - The former Premier League winger is stepping back into jails to help prisoners and working with Expand

3 DAYS AGO - The former Premier League winger is stepping back into jails to help prisoners and working with young players ‘to change their whole outlook on life’For a man whose slogan is “Prison to Premiership” it was a tense moment for Jamie Lawrence to find himself outside Brixton prison on a crisp winter’s morning, preparing to go back inside. He was here as a teenager, PN 2991LAWRENCE. He trots out his prison number, thinks about the boy he was then, the circumstances that allowed crime to seem like the easier option. Now 48, he braced himself to step back into his former life hoping he might strike some kind of chord with the prisoners of today. Whatever talks and workshops are on offer to them, not many can look them in the eye and level with them in the way he can.He half smiles as he explains that these days he gets cleared by security. “Normally I was going in the sweat box before I was going in,” he says wryly. “It was nice to go through the gate. I got introduced to the boys. I was Collapse

21 HRS AGO - SOMETIMES, patience is rewarded. Like his Sunderland team-mate, Duncan Watmore, Charlie Wyke has adopted a softly-softly approach to his latest recovery from injury. And just like Watmore, he is hoping to reap the rewards with a successful return to action before the end of the year. Collapse

2 DAYS AGO - AFTER watching Sunderland come from behind to avoid defeat for the seventh time in League One this Expand

2 DAYS AGO - AFTER watching Sunderland come from behind to avoid defeat for the seventh time in League One this season, manager Jack Ross has paid tribute to his players for proving just how much they want to turn things around at the Stadium of Light. Collapse

3 DAYS AGO - JACK ROSS felt Sunderland’s players showed once again they have the strength for a promotion Expand

3 DAYS AGO - JACK ROSS felt Sunderland’s players showed once again they have the strength for a promotion charge after emerging with three points in freezing conditions at the Stadium of Light. Collapse

4 DAYS AGO - HAVING waited more than a year to make his return in a Sunderland comeback after a serious knee Expand

4 DAYS AGO - HAVING waited more than a year to make his return in a Sunderland comeback after a serious knee injury, Duncan Watmore is prepared to be patient. Still, he can’t wait to play in League One for the Black Cats. Collapse

6 DAYS AGO - IT has been a long and arduous road to recovery for Duncan Watmore. Two serious cruciate knee Expand

6 DAYS AGO - IT has been a long and arduous road to recovery for Duncan Watmore. Two serious cruciate knee ligament injuries inside a year can be as mentally draining as any young, professional footballer can face, and the Sunderland forward is determined to make the most of his fresh chance. Collapse

7 DAYS AGO - Sunderland crashed out of the FA Cup as they were beaten 1-0 by Walsall in their second-round Expand

7 DAYS AGO - Sunderland crashed out of the FA Cup as they were beaten 1-0 by Walsall in their second-round replay at the Stadium of Light. Liam Kinsella produced a wonder strike in the 52nd minute. Collapse

7 DAYS AGO - JACK ROSS spoke last week about Sunderland’s FA Cup heritage. The Wearside boss happy to turn back the clock to 1973 and take in the club’s finest hour, Ian Porterfield, Bob Stokoe, Jimmy Montgomery and all that. Collapse

4 DAYS AGO - YESTERDAY a new, much-publicised eight-part Netflix series featuring Sunderland’s relegation season from the Championship hit the screens, and Jack Ross thinks the behind-the-scenes look could well have a positive impact on the club over the longer term. Collapse

6 DAYS AGO - A sense of loss is all-pervading in a Netflix series chronicling Sunderland’s relegation into Expand

6 DAYS AGO - A sense of loss is all-pervading in a Netflix series chronicling Sunderland’s relegation into League One but, throughout, a sense of optimism shines out from most fansIt’s the hope that kills them, Sunderland fans can handle the despair. And it is a prevailing sense of hope that percolates throughout all eight episodes of a new behind-the-scenes documentary chronicling the club’s relegation to the third tier of English football last season. Throughout a preposterously chaotic campaign, even by the standards of a club that has long been considered utterly dysfunctional, Sunderland’s fans remain surprisingly upbeat despite having grown wearily accustomed to coping with apparently bottomless levels of crushing disappointment. Related: Sunderland's hall of shame: club's (mostly bad) signings under Short The transformation of Jason Steele from optimistic new arrival to tearful hologram is little short of harrowing Related: Stadium of plight: Sunderland at risk of their most shattering Collapse

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